Conventional radio receivers for receiving broadcast audio content have been known in the art, for approximately a century. In the last decade, with the advent of internet radio receivers (residing in an ordinary microcomputer, or in a “dedicated” internet radio device such as the Philips Internet Radio Mini Shelf Stereo-#FWI-1000) and satellite radio receivers, users have been given access to an enormous number of audio broadcast channels.
In all of the aforementioned devices, at any given time, the user can tune to a single station selected from a plurality of possible stations. The user needs to make a decision and perform a manual operation in order to switch between stations.
Many users of radio devices are known to engage in a behavior known as “channel surfing,” where the user listens to each of a number of channels for a brief period of time, in order to determine what content is currently “being played” on each station, and to determine which audio streaming content station (for example, which conventional radio station, which satellite radio station, which internet radio station) is preferred at a given time.
Although a certain population of users actually enjoys the “channel surfing experience,” many consider the need to channel surf an unnecessary burden. There is an ongoing need for devices, methods and computer-readable code which facilitate the process where users may access, with a minimum amount of hassle, a “preferred” audio broadcast channel selected from a plurality of candidate broadcast channels.